Track and Field Scholarship Guide – Part 2 – What does it take? How do I get there?
Depending on your performance level, you can participate at a variety of levels within college athletics. The NCAA divides colleges and universities into different divisions, I, II and III. This is primarily for overall governance of athletic programs, and also controls recruiting, the number of scholarships and teams required for participation. Here is an in depth view of the NCAA Divisions:
NCAA Divisions – What are I, II and III?
In Track and Field, divisions control the number of scholarships available, with Division I programs having the highest number. Below are the total numbers for each Division:
Division I 12.69 for men / 18 for women
Division II 12.6 for men/12.6 for women
Division III No athletic scholarships provided
NAIA 12
As you can imagine, the level of competition is highest in Division I, with competition for scholarships being greatest at that level.
So, what are the guidelines? Are there specific numbers, say for the shot put, that will get you attention/scholarship from a specific division? A good first step is to see where you sit on the national ranking sites. Below is a link to several of the national ranking sites. Note that most of them have regional ranking sections as well to let you see how you compare:
You can also use our custom search engine to see if you are on any of the top High School Track Sites:
Want to see where you stand? Use our athlete search to find yourself: TopHeat HS Athlete Search
I have also built a reference table of the typical marks required for D1 level scholarships: Track and Field Marks for D1 Level Scholarships Consideration
Now, you probably know where you sit. That is the great thing about Track and Field, the numbers do not lie, and if you are performing in meets, and placing high, you are probably going on to high visibility meets, where you can gain more attention. If you look at the ranking sites, you can see that they all have “elite” levels, which typically relate to Division I “recruitable” athletes.
Note, do not lose hope is your times/marks are not on par with the “Elites”. In the next article, I will talk about how to get yourself noticed, and all the other factors that go into the whole process - Track and Field Scholarship Guide, Part III
Want to gain exposure to coaches through TopHeat? Create a free profile now - Create TopHeat Track and Field Profile
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